Certain Doom
by Greyy-Eyess
Summary: Dib gripped the knife and his paranoid eyes shot around the Clearing. If anyone tried to kill him, he would make sure they died as well. A Hunger Games meets Invader Zim fic. ZADR and DATR. R&R!  Previouly 'Certain Death'
1. Reaping Day

I woke up in a cold bed, and my hands gripped the sheets. I immediately stood up, remembering what today was.

Today was reaping day.

I shuddered. This is the most terrible time of the year.

I walked past my sister's room, and opened the door. Usually, if I went into her room, she would try to kill me with security. But she wasn't in her room. Huh, it figures. She probably woke up early because of the reaping.

I walked to the living room, and was shocked at what I saw. My father, or Professor Membrane as you probably know him, was asleep on the couch, hugging my sister, Gaz. Gaz was asleep as well, and to my surprise, tear trails were down her pale cheeks. Throughout my whole life, I've never once seen Gaz cry. Maybe she did it when I wasn't around, not wanting to show weakness even to her own brother. But today was reaping day, I didn't blame her for crying. I cried too, on my first reaping day.

I glanced at my father and fought a scowl. He used to be a good dad…not really that much of a father anymore. But it was good that he was comforting Gaz when obviously she couldn't come to me. Even though I'm practically the head of the household since Dad is never around.

I leaned forward and swept Gaz's spiky purple bangs to the side so I could kiss her forehead. No matter what horrible things she did to me, she was still my little sister, and I loved her.

Once in privacy, I stripped off my pajamas and pulled on my usual clothes: A navy blue cotton t-shirt with a gray unsmiling face on it, black jeans, and a black trench coat. I pulled on my black boots and walked to the kitchen.

Out in the kitchen was two pieces of pizza with a sticky note beside it. I picked it up. It read:

"_Dib: Don't let my reputation be ruined just because of one tiny gift. If you tell anyone about this, you will pay…_

There wasn't any name from who sent me the note, but I didn't need one. I thanked Gaz silently in my head, grabbed the pizza, and ran outside.

I walked for a little while. It was the same routine every day: Get up, get dressed, provide for my family, and go to sleep. And it will be like that until the day that I die. But I don't mind, because it means a better life for my sister. And my dad obviously won't take care of her. So that leaves me, the big brother.

I remember how my father used to be. He was a good dad. He would play with us, take care of us when we were sick, and provided for us. But after my mom was murdered, he sort of shut off. He wouldn't respond to us, and I was concerned. And even though Gaz seemed indifferent to the situation, I knew that she was concerned, too.

After that, he took up science, and totally left us to fend for ourselves. He was never home, and he never showed any affection towards us. It was then that I realized that he never truly loved us. He loved Mom, and Mom loved us. And he would love whatever she adored. So after she died, what was the point in even caring anymore?

I was snapped out of my thoughts when a large, metal fence caught my eye. I smirked and climbed through the giant, gaping hole that I had bore a couple of years back. Oh, yeah. Poaching to provide for my family. How low could I get?

I took out my rifle while still gripping the pizza. I looked around for a familiar feminine face…ah. There she was.

Tak, my hunting partner, smiled at me and motioned for me to sit down. Her blue hair was mangled and bits of grime was lodged in it. I huffed at the sight, though my hair looked the same. It was just average from where we lived now.

I sat down and she surprised me by taking out a fresh loaf of bread, still warm. My mouth gaped open.

"Wow, Tak! How did you get that?" I asked, my amber eyes gleaming. Tak smirked and replied, "I caught a rabbit, and Mr. Vasquez traded."

I hugged her and brought out my own prize. Two pieces of pizza. Nowadays, this was precious. Tak's mouth watered; she was speechless. We quietly ate the food, savoring every bite.

Tak interrupted the silence by stating, "Dib. Let's run away together."

I almost choked, though she had told me this nearly every day. And every day I ignored her like I didn't hear her, but this time I felt like I should respond.

"Tak…" I began, my voice cracking. I really did want to run away from everything with her, my best friend. But I couldn't bring myself to agree. "That's…ridiculous. We have to provide for our families." he whispered. Tak shrugged, she didn't have a family. But Dib did, and while she couldn't show empathy for the boy, she could still show sympathy.

"Fine…but if you change your mind…"

"I won't."

Tak slumped her shoulders. And smirked again. "Oh Dib…I forgot to tell you…Happy Hunger Games!"

I stared awkwardly at the blue-haired girl before shrugging it off and continuing to eat.

After we eat, we collect berries, roots, plants, and fish. We are both satisfied with out luck.

I set out with Tak, and we trade some of our food. Mainly the berries because the mayor is a sucker for raspberries, and luckily, we have picked a lot. While we are there, we bump into the mayor's son, Keef. The red-head isn't dressed in his normal happy rainbow shirt and shorts, he was wearing a black suit and tie, which was totally unusual for him. He grinned and waved at us.

"Wow, Keef. You sure look fancy." Tak commented on the boy's appearance. Keef held his hands together and nodded. "Well…if I'm going to be sent to the Capitol for the Hunger Games, I should look presentable." he pointed out. Tak shrugged. "You only have five entries. You're not going to be picked." she retorted. Keef glared at her. "Well, it isn't an impossibility." was all he said.

I flinched at this conversation. I didn't like talking about the Hunger Games, even though it was reaping day. You see, whenever a kid reaches the age of twelve, he or she has to put their name on a slip of paper to be drawn for the Hunger Games. When you turn thirteen, then it is entered twice. And so on and so forth until you turn eighteen and you aren't legible for the Hunger Games anymore. Well, if you are in a poor family, you can enter your name in another time and your family can earn a fair amount of goods. This is what I do, as head of the household. It might not be safe for me, but it's safe for my family. And that's all that matters, right?

Well, this is Gaz's first time when her name being eligible for the Hunger Games.

Tak and Keef got into an argument. Keef was rich, so he didn't have to enter his name more than five times. Well, as for me, my name is entered twenty times.

I quickly left them for home.

Back at the house, Gaz is wearing a pretty purple dress with a large bow around it. It is very out of character for her, but I think she looks dashing in it. I tie the bow, and she complains, but she doesn't do anything to stop me. Wow. She must be really scared.

I strip down and pull on my Sunday best. It's not much, but it will do. It is reaping day, after all, so I have to look my best.

I walk downstairs, cook leftover fish for my family, and we eat. It's in silence, and no one complains about the odd acidy taste in it. I shrug and get up. I protectively hold Gaz's hand, and she doesn't slap me away. She just holds my hand so tight that it nearly cuts off my circulation. But I don't care, because Gaz must be really nervous.

I finally let go of her hand, and she goes to stand with the twelve year olds. I stand next to Tak, and she grins at my sight. She is wearing a powdery blue dress and I can't help but stare until the clock strikes two, and it's time for the reaping to begin.

The mayor has a microphone, and he tells up about the Hunger Games. It is a fight to the death on live television. Twenty-four 'tributes', as they are called, are sent to an arena and forced to fight each other until there is only one tribute alive. That tribute wins the Games, not to mention earning fame and fortune.

So the results of winning such a contest is great, but the consequences of losing are severe. I shudder, and Tak does the same.

The mayor lists the names of the former tributes from our area. Only one won the Games. His name is Dwicky, and he stumbles up to the stage, a stupid grin on his face. I wonder for a spilt second if tis man has gone mad.

He takes the microphone, and the tension in the atmosphere is oh so high, This is the time when the tributes from our area are called out. The victims. The people who will most certainly die.

I cross my fingers behind my back and pray that it's not me.

Dwicky pulls out a card, and speaks into the microphone with a booming voice:

"Gazlene Membrane!"


	2. A Tribute at Will

My mouth hung open, and Gaz stared at the ground as she marched up to the stage. People began to mutter stuff like, "She won't survive," and "She's too puny."

Right as Gaz was about to climb up onto the stage, I ran up and thrust myself in front of her, pushing her back behind me. "I volunteer to take her place!" I gasped, panting as though I had just run a marathon.

People stared at me. People from our area NEVER volunteered as tribute, because the tributes from our area usually bite the dust first.

However, Mr. Dwicky smiled at me. "Okay then, little boy! Now people, THIS is what the Hunger Games is all about right here!" he gushed. I fought back a glare.

Gaz's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Dib? No!" I looked back at her in slight surprise. This is the first time that she really ever showed me any signs of concern towards me.

Her face paled when I pushed her away from me. "No, Gaz. You aren't going to die within this year." I hissed in her ear. Gaz slapped me. "And so you are going to go and die for me? Me? I've done nothing but try to hurt you!" Tears were in her eyes as she told me this, and I looked away.

"You're my sister, Gaz. I love you." I muttered, and she just continued to stare. "Dib. Let me do this."

I shook my head again, and Tak walked and picked up Gaz, who didn't do anything but stare at me with a shocked gaze. Tak smiled at me mournfully. "Go for it, Dib." she told me. But I could tell that by the way she looked at me, she knew that I would die within the first hour of the Games. But that was fine, because I knew it, too.

I went up to the stage, and no one applauded for me. The whole place was silent, and then people started to wave goodbye to me. My heart sank to my toes.

Dwicky pretended that he didn't see anything, but I caught him give me a sympathetic look. That just made me feel worse, thank you very much.

Dwicky smiled to the audience. "Now, that is what we call spirit!" he said. No one smiled, no one gave me the thumbs-up, and again, no one clapped. But I would just feel offended if anyone clapped, anyway.

Dwicky turned to me. "Now, Mr…"

"Dib. My name is Dib." I said quietly.

Dwicky chuckled. "Dib. That's quite a strange name, don't you think?"

I adjusted my glasses and bit back a stinging retort. Instead, all that I muttered out was, "My mother thought of the name."

Dwicky shrugged. "It's just a name. It doesn't matter if your mother or your father came up with it. It's just a symbol of your identity." he pointed out, crossing his arms. I sighed inwardly-if only he knew…

But wait. Why were we talking about names? I nearly face palmed until Dwicky changed the subject. "Now…erm…that was your sister?" he guessed. "You seemed pretty protective of her."

I shuffled my feet nervously. "Uh…yeah. Gaz is my sister." I said.

Dwicky looked up at the crowd and walked over to giant bowl of names again. "Well, okay, that's enough of getting to know Dib Membrane. Let's just draw the next name, shall we?" With a toothy grin, he pulled out another name.

Dwicky cleared his throat. "Zim Vasquez." he read in a clear voice. My muscles relaxed when he didn't call out Tak's name, but I just stiffened again when I got a good look about my fellow corpse-uh, I mean tribute.

He was a tiny, skinny fellow with raven black hair and purple eyes. His skin was a sickly green color…and no, not the nauseous kind of green, but the actual color. My eyes flashed. _Him? Oh no…_

Dwicky asked for volunteers, but no one volunteered. I just heard one psychotic green-dog-thing clapping insanely. Zim glared daggers at the object.

I remember him from a while ago. And by the look on his face when he got a good look at me, he remembers me, too.

_It was a cold, winter day. My family was literally starving to death, including me, and even though the hunger weakened me, I still urged myself to move on. I had to trade these old teddy bears for food. So far, I was unsuccessful._

_I was just about to give up until the delicious scent that can only come from a bakery filled my nostrils. They were baking bread…oh I wished that I had some of that bread so badly. As if on cue, my stomach growled loudly, and my arms wrapped around it. I groaned. The hunger was too overwhelming. It was like a disease to me. A virus._

_I look around frantically for food. If I couldn't trade, I was going to have to scavenge. Luckily, I found a trash can right next to the bakery. I knocked it over, and it's contents came spilling out. I was about to grab all the food I could carry, but a woman came out and shooed me away. There seemed something almost robotic about the lady. Behind her was a strange green kid, staring at me with wide, curious eyes._

_The door closed to the bakery, and I sank to my knees, utterly defeated. I buried my face in my hands and began to sob. My family was going to die because of me…this was all my fault!_

_Suddenly, I hear the bakery door open again. I was about to run away, but it was just the odd green kid. He was holding bread, and he threw it in my direction. The bread burned my hands, but I didn't care. It was food! Without thanking him, I scurried away before anyone could find me with unpaid bread._

_When I got home, I split the loaf of bread with my father and my sister. They were delighted at the bread, though Gaz really just wanted pizza. I snapped at her about how it just wasn't that easy anymore, and she was silent after that._

_A few bites into my share, I realized something a little bit off about the bread. It seemed…BURNT. The bread was burnt! But I shrugged the thought away, though. Did it really matter? Either way, burnt or not, it was still food!_

Dib was snapped out of his flashback when he felt something in his hand. He looked down, and saw Zim's gloved hand intertwined with his own. Zim was scared. Dib sighed…who wouldn't be? But this kid…he didn't want him to be scared. And he really wanted to thank him for the bread….but how could he now? Zim was his mortal enemy now. They were going to try to kill each other. Dib looked down at his feet.

Well. This wasn't going well at all, was it?


	3. Realization

I followed Dwicky into a confined space. Zim was taken into another place. Both of the rooms were soundproof, and it only took me a moment to realize what this room was for. It was for goodbyes. Final words that you can give and receive from your family and close friends. I hugged my knees and sat on a couch.

It was much nicer in here than it is at home. Everything is silk, velvet, gold, or something else expensive. I sighed. At least the Capitol had enough kindness to at least pamper us before we were murdered.

Dwicky opened the door, and the first people waiting at there was my father and Gaz. Dwicky ushered them in, and then closed the door on himself so we could have some privacy.

I looked down, unable to meet Gaz's troubled gaze. I didn't know she would be so upset about my departure…I was actually hoping that she would be grateful. My father just stared at me indifferently.

After a few moments of awkward silence, I finally worked up the energy to lift my head.

"While I'm gone…" I trail off, because I know that will be forever. But I just keep my tone casual, as if I'm talking about going on vacation instead of a fight-to-the-death. "While I'm gone, don't enter Gaz's name multiple times in the reaping. Earn your money off of goat cheese. And…milk." My tone became deflated, because I knew that cheese and milk wouldn't earn them much cash.

"Tak will supply you with plants and food." I tell them. I didn't talk with Tak about this, but she had enough sense to know that she should keep my family from starving to death. I turned my gaze to my father, and I had to fight back a scowl.

"Dad…don't you dare space out on us again." I choked out. Gaz couldn't live by herself, not at her age. My dad's eyes flashed under his goggles. "I couldn't help it that one time! It won't happen again!" he snapped.

"Well, you'd better pray that it won't." I retorted, my tone suddenly sharp. He flinched back, and I suddenly felt guilty. I looked down at the floor again, my shoulders sagging.

I suddenly feel hands on my shoulders. I look up, and I see Gaz staring at me.

"Dib…you have to win. You have to PROMISE that you'll try to win!" she urged. I blinked at her, a little surprised.

I know that I won't win. But I would try to. For Gaz's sake. Not for Dad's…Gaz's. "I…I'll try." I said.

The timer rang, and they both had to go. I watched them leave with a blank expression.

The next time the door opened, I was surprised to see who it was. It was Zim's father, the baker. He twitched, and sparks flew out of his neck. I flinched back, surprised.

He moved robotically towards me, and drops a paper bag on my lap. I open it, and see it's full of cookies. I look up into his metal-looking eyes. "Thank you." I say. And I really mean it. I haven't had cookies in so long.

"I will promise to keep an eye that scary sister of yours." he said. I nodded automatically, and he left. I shrugged, knowing that was probably the most random visit of my life. Not that I got many visits, anyway.

The next person who came in was the familiar ginger kid, Keef. My mouth twitched up into a half smile. This was another surprise.

Keef really didn't talk so much. He just rummaged through his pouch and brought out something that made my eyes light up in surprise.

In his hands was a tiny pin with an eye carved into the metal. He leaned forward and pinned it to my shirt. I ran my hands over the familiar pin. It was a trademark item of a paranormal agency called "The Swollen Eyeballs." When I was 11, I was all over that paranormal stuff. I had kind of outgrown it, but sometimes thought of ghosts and vampires flashed in my head from time to time. "Keef I-"

Keef held up his hand to stop me. "No. Wear it. Be a child again." And with that, he left. I watched him leave in utter longing. If only _he _could follow his own advice. When he was little, he was immature, obnoxious, and clingy. But he outgrew it. Now he doesn't talk much, and when he does, it's usually only to me or Tak. As much as I loathed Keef in his childhood, I longed him to become that carefree soul once more.

I know that there was only one person left to say their farewells. Dwicky had told me. And when he opened the door to reveal who it was, I wasn't surprised at all to see Tak.

Tak ran up to me and hugged me. I embraced her back, and a fog seemed to lift off of my shoulders.

Tak finally let go of Dib and looked at him in the eyes. "Dib…" she began. "Make sure that you get your hands on a rifle." she said. I looked away.

"I…don't know about that…they usually don't have rifles in the Games…" I murmured.

Tak put her hands on either side of my face and turned my head so that I was looking at her straight in the eye. There were tears running down her face, and her expression was one of anger. "Dib! Listen to me…you can't give up on this!" she practically yelled in my face.

"I…I'm not going to…"

"Yes you will!" she hissed. "You're going to try to jump off of the Capitol building, or some other way of suicide!"

I flinched, because she had somehow read my thoughts…even though I was going to try, if I was dying, suicide was the best choice…

I had to fight so hard to keep the tears from freely flowing from my eyes. Tak continued to yell at me, and my ears began to throb.

Soon she got to the point where she was cursing. She was cursing so freely, and a flinched back, retorting back. It wasn't long before Dwicky came and physically forced her out of the room.

I sighed, and hugged my knees, still fighting back tears. This encounter reminded me of encounters I had as a kid…an eleven year old…

I tried to remember the name of the kid who I had those quarrels back. It started with a Z…Zee…Zi…Zim…?

As soon as the name came to me, his image flashed in my head. My mind whirled, and my stomach leaped. The boy with the bread…the boy who I was going to try to kill…the boy with the strange green skin…

….Oh God…

I groaned, and fell to my knees, putting a hand to my head before I drowned in the dark pool of unconsciousness.

When I woke up, I was at a different place. I sat up quickly, realizing I was in a bed. A nice one, too. I looked out of the window in my "room", and found that I was in a train.

My heart skipped a beat when I remembered why I had blacked out in the first place. I shuddered. I really….REALLY…didn't want to see Zim. At all. But I knew that I had to at some point…I sighed. But for now, I guess I would shower. I had to go to dinner after all, and I wanted to look as presentable as possible.

I found my shower, and was fascinated by all of the miscellaneous shampoos and soaps. But after I overcame my shock, my shower went my fairly quickly.

I pulled on my normal clothes, and walked to dinner.

There was Dwicky and Zim, both seated. Zim was just poking the food with his fork, making a slight face of disgust. I looked for my seat, and a fresh wave of anxiety fell over me when I saw that the only seat remaining was next to my opponent. I sat down, a little nervous, and let my gaze wander away from him. But even then, I could feel his stare on me.

So…he probably knew who I was. The crazy paranormal investigator. The kid who had wished for him to be dissected on an autopsy table. The kid who had fought him, gave him pain, made him suffer.

I shuddered. This either meant that he would be too afraid of me that he would stay away, or he would kill me as soon as we set foot in the arena. The most likely option would probably be number two. He has tried to kill me countless times in the past, so why should he hesitate to do it now, when I'm at my weakest?

I began to eat, trying to take my mind off of Zim. As soon as the food hit my taste buds, I knew that it had partially worked. The food…it was delicious! I took another bite, and another, and another, before I completed eating the full platter and they brought me a second course.

I began to forget where I was. I hadn't eaten this well in ages. I shoveled mouthful after mouthful of food into my mouth. And soon, they had given me round three of my heaven.

In fact, my dining had taken over so much of my brain that nearly asked myself, '_Hunger Games? What Hunger Games?'_

I was already done with my third platter when I was snapped out of my heaven.

"Dib!"

I nearly jumped five miles in the air.

Dwicky laughed and put his hand on my shoulder. "You're eating like a cannibal." he said.

Suddenly, all of my previous feelings came back to me. I was a tribute for the Hunger Games. I was going to die within a few weeks. One of my opponents is an old enemy, and he probably can't wait to slit my throat. And the man who was mentoring me was touching me. I shrugged his hand off and gave him a wild look.

And then a new feeling came to me. I grabbed my stomach and groaned. My stomach was feeling queasy before I came here, but this was the worst. Not to mention that now a headache was beginning to form and now when I looked at Dwicky, there seemed to be two of him.

I staggered out of my chair and stumbled to try to get back to my room, but I utterly failed, collapsing on my knees instead. Exasperated, I expecting the green demon to be laughing at me anytime now, commenting on how "humans are so vulnerable."

But to my surprise, I felt gloved hands on my shoulders, and a soft, familiar voice. "You're so stupid, Dib-creature." he muttered. But to my surprise, it wasn't in a mocking tone. In fact, there was only confusion and concern in his tone. I flinched when he used my name like that…he obviously remembered me from all of those years back.

Dwicky glanced at me and hurried over. He pushed his hand to my forehead with much more pressure than needed, and he growled. "A fever?" he almost yelled. His tone and expression wasn't one of concern at all. It was more of frustration. "This sucks! If the kid dies now, then we'll have to postpone the Games!"

Oh yeah. I was sick. Heh…I wonder how I could forget something like that. But quite personally, I hoped that I _did _die now. Because if I did, then it would make the Capitol the laughing stock of the country. Letting a tribute die even before being tossed into the arena was embarrassing. Plus…it wouldn't give Zim the satisfaction of killing me himself.

Yes. Please God, let me die.

I felt Zim's hand stoke my cheek, which was probably beet red by now, and suddenly I couldn't feel the ground anymore.

I moaned slightly and I heard a voice.

"Please, Dib. Don't die now. You need to go to the arena, and we can become allies, and…" the voice cracked.

It was Zim's.

Maybe I really _was crazy._


	4. The Victims

I woke up groggily, not opening my eyes. I was afraid that if I opened them up, then I would find that I was still alive, and not dead as I should be, as I wanted to be. But…maybe I would open my eyes and I would be in heaven…? Or maybe hell. I wasn't really sure at the moment…

I peeked open an eye, and let out a startled yelp as Zim's face was inches from my own, his eyes their natural ruby color and opened wide in curiosity. He smiled when he realized I was awake and puffed with amusement at my reaction.

I crossed my arms. So I wasn't dead. Oh, joy.

"Zim."

"Dib."

We just looked at each other for a while until I broke the awkward silence. "Why aren't you wearing your disguise?"

Zim took a step back from me, giving me my personal space back. "Zim didn't feel like keeping on his wig and contacts. Do you know how unbearably ITCHY they are?" Zim shuddered. "Besides," Zim gave a dismissive wave of his gloved hand. "The Dwicky-human won't walk in on us, nor will the slaves. They like to give us our personal space before the Games begin because you know," He flashed a grin, showing off his zipper-like teeth. "we need all we can get before we die."

I found it sickening how he put it so bluntly like that. So I just kept silent, waiting for Zim to spike up another less-death-related topic.

"Dib-thing. Dwicky wanted me to show you this once you woke up." He tossed me the remote with a single blue button on it. He sat Indian-style on the foot of my bed, his antennae perked up in interest and his gaze glued to the blank TV-screen.

I averted my gaze to the remote, and I nervously pressed the button, a little afraid of what would happen. The TV flicked on, and the title went on the screen as

'_The Tributes for this Year's Hunger Games! May the odds ever be in your favor!"_

I held my breath. I knew that I would have to watch these sooner or later, but I couldn't help but wonder which one of the people that would be featured on the television here would be the one who killed me. Or maybe…maybe the one who would kill me is in the same room as me. I shuddered, imagining one of those metal spider legs plunging deep into me.

"Hey, Dib-stink! Look at that one!" Zim cackled, drawing me out of my thoughts. "She's so little!"

He was pointing to a little girl on the screen who looked about twelve. She looked as calm as ever, except for the silent tear rolling down her cheek. The announcer said that her name was Zita. Dib remembered her vaguely from grade-school, but obviously Zim didn't.

They kept on showing different people, but only a few stuck out to Dib. Zita, for one, but also Torque, and some other girl named Aimy.

Then it showed the reaping at Zim and Dib's area. Both were silent for this one. Even Zim shut up on his stupid comments.

Dwicky had called Gaz's name, she stepped up, and oh! There's me, right on cue. I looked sort of panicked, and my face was tense. I made a mental note to look more relaxed like Zita.

Then Zim was called, and there was Gir, clapping like a retard. He probably had no idea that he was going to be forced to watch his master be killed on live television.

"I hope Gir will be okay by himself…" Zim whispered after the national anthem played and the TV was flicked off. I just bit my lip. I didn't know Zim really had anyone to care about back home…I had always thought Gir was more of a slave than anything to him.

Zim sighed a pulled off a glove, reaching forward to feel my forehead. He smiled and pulled on his glove once more. "Your fever has broken, Dib. Now get up."

"Why should I?" I grumbled. I wasn't in the mood to get out of bed. Everything in my body ached.

"Because I want breakfast." Zim pulled on his wig and tapped on his contacts before pulling me out of bed by force. He grabbed the white paper bag that his "father" had given to me. He reached in and brought out a cookie.

"Cookie?"

I was tempted to reach forward and take it, engulfing myself in the sweet taste. But I was starting to get suspicious…why was Zim being to nice to me? He was probably just trying to gain my trust so he can kill me easier in the arena.

Oh, no. I'm not falling for that.

I slapped the cookie out of his hand and stomped on it. I crossed my arms. Zim looked a little surprised, but then grinned. "Fine. Have it your way." He reached in, taking one of my cookies, and popped it in his mouth tauntingly before walking away, motioning for me to follow.

I let him walk away by himself, and I just flopped on my bed. I started to cry, because this would be the only place where I could do it. After today, they will start to film every move that we make, every word that we say. And I don't want the other tributes to think of me as an easy target.

After I cry myself out, I get out of bed and brush my hair. It's messier than usual, but I let my signature scythe stay. I fumble around for my Swollen Eyeball pin and put it on my shirt. Okay…now I was ready.

I stumbled over to breakfast, and sat down. Zim was glaring at me, apparently angry that I didn't follow him. Whatever.

Sitting across from us was Dwicky, sipping red wine. I poked my own glass, which was filled with the stuff. I sipped it, and nearly spit it out. But I managed to choke it down.

Zim pushed away all of the food and crossed his arms, waiting for breakfast to end.

I looked at Dwicky. "So…uh…you're gonna be our mentor?" I asked him.

"Duh. Why else would I be here?"

I rolled my shoulders. "Er…have any advice for the two of us?"

Dwicky leaned back in his chair, mocking someone who was lost in thought. "Hm…oh, I know! Try not to die, and you'll be fine." He chuckled at his own joke, but I at the moment, realized that I loathed this person already.

Zim lunged at Dwicky, pulling at his hair. I throw a fork at him, but he dodges it, and it stabs the wall.

After Zim unleashed Dwicky and sat down again, Dwicky cocked an eyebrow. "Do my eyes deceive me or do I have a pair of living chances on my hands?"

Zim and I just took a sip of our wine in unison, both gagging.

Dwicky chuckled. "Or maybe not."


	5. Chariot Ride

AN: Hey guys! I just wanted to give the Disclaimer, since I haven't already.

I do NOT own Invader Zim OR the Hunger Games. Or else I'd be filthy rich…and I'm not. =P

As for review replies, here we go:

PartyPoisonandFunGhoul: Yes. All of the characters in this fic deserve a little sympathy right now. And thank you, that means a lot to me.

Neliel Uta: Oh wow. Talk about irony. LOL. And I'm happy that you like my casting. I'm pretty satisfied with it myself. And you aren't the only one waiting for the ZADR..3

Monochrome Masquerade: I'm glad you're in love. 33 And thank you very much. That review made my day.

Now, onto the story!

Enjoy!

I cringed as a stylist tugged on my mangled hair.

Oh, yes. I had a stylist. Whoop-dee-do. Sigh.

I personally could care less about my appearance…in fact, if they hasn't covered my scars up with makeup, I could have actually looked tough. But no…they just HAD to try to make me look flawless.

"Oh, dear! You look hideous!" one stylist exclaimed.

"Like an animal!" another one said, causing all of the ladies to giggle. Ugh. Couldn't I have _male _stylists? Female stylists obviously had a way with finding every single flaw about me. Not to mention they were trying to make me look perfect.

After they finished with my hair, they moved on to applying more makeup on me. This was just GREAT. A boy in makeup. Sure, not like it would show, but I've never been one to really care about covering up all of my scratches and tears in my skin. I didn't want to look like a baby who had never been cut in my life.

The stylists let me be for a few moments and began to whisper among themselves. A few of them nodded, looking back at me to see if I needed to be polished some more. But with a few moments of consulting, they decided to let me see myself in the mirror.

I bit my lip at what I saw.

I looked completely smooth. My glasses were gone and replaced with contacts. But my hair stayed the same. I brought up my hand to stroke the scythe, grateful that they had allowed that to stay. I wanted to look at least a little bit recognizable.

One of the stylists left the room, and came back with a male stylist. He had curly brown hair and fair skin. He walked forward and held out his hand for me to shake. A little bit hesitant, I took his hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Noah," he greeted me with a huge grin. "And you're Dib."

I blushed, unused to the fact that nearly everyone knew my name, now. "Uh, yeah. That's me."

Noah began to prod me and stroke me in the placed where the makeup wasn't rubbed in just right, and he reached forward to run his fingers through my hair.

"We could use this scythe. As your trademark, I mean," he noted.

I rocked back and forth on my shoe-less heels, and finally got a good look at the man as he was admiring my hair. "I don't think I've seen you before in the broadcasting of the Games." I observed.

Noah laughed. "You would have to be quite delusional if you had. This is my first year being a stylist. And even though I got to choose last on which area I picked, I got the one I wanted." Noah said with a friendly grin.

Mental note: this guy might be worth trusting. But be on your toes.

After he was finished inspecting me, Noah and I left to eat lunch. And of course he asked if I could eat it with him.

Well, it was better than eating lunch with Zim and Dwicky.

I stared down at my sandwich, looking at it's contents. There was some weird spread on it, something that someone in my area would never see. I took a bite, and found out that the sandwich, just like everything else here, was delicious. I savored each and every bite until I was finished. I rested my head on my hands, waiting for Noah to finish his own lunch, some sort of a soup.

Noah paused about halfway into his soup and looked me directly in the eyes. "Everyone here must seem pretty despicable to you," he commented. I jumped in my seat, not expecting the statement. "Uh…no! O-of course not…" I lied. Noah just gave me a disbelieving glance before I changed the subject.

"So…uh…what will my chariot outfit look like?" I questioned. Every year the tributes would go on a chariot ride around the Cornucopia, getting lots of applause from the audience. So basically it's our one time of glory before we die.

"Oh, about that…your aren't afraid of water, are you?"

I gulped.

Hours later, it is time for the chariot ride. I am in a full length swimsuit that covers my whole body besides my head. I twitch and climb into the chariot. What in the world was Noah gonna do to us?

I felt the weight of the chariot shift; Zim was climbing in. His body was tense and his eyes were open wide in fear.

Oh, yeah I forgot.

Irkens were "allergic" to water, weren't they?

Noah looked up at us and grinned. "Okay…what we're gonna do is: in front of the chariot there is two long chutes that water will spray out of, okay? One sprays water directly at you, one sprays water above your heads. This will give off the illusion that you are enclosed in a dome of water, while standing in a constant wave of it as well.

Zim let out a squeak.

"Oh, yes. Also, your swimsuits change colors once you flick them on, so make sure you do that before you're out there! And…link arms."

I was taken aback. "Why?"

Zim link my arm with his before Noah could say anything. "You silly human. You should be happy that you are holding ZIM'S hand. It is the most amazing hand in the universe, you know," he whispered in my ear.

I grumbled something. Zim won't seem all amazing when he's withering on the chariot floor in pain.

It was an hour before we finally got to go out. We were the last chariots to go, after all. I flicked on my swimsuit, and so did Zim. Noah gave us the thumbs-up sign and flicked on the water. Zim's eyes flashed and he screwed up his eyes, ready for the pain, but it never came, much to my surprise.

He finally opened his eyes, and looked around at his surroundings. People were cheering for us! Us! Me! Zim!

People were literally screaming and whistling, giving us standing ovations. Even caught a flower that some lady in the front had tossed.

We wheeled around and around the stadium, and I began to feel amazing. So much attention! I was actually wanted? No way!

I blew a kiss to the crowd from behind my water curtain and the crowd went crazy. They tackled some guy to the ground, because he "caught" it. Wow. Now my air-born kisses were even taken like real objects to the crowd.

"We're stunning!" I heard Zim exclaim, his eyes sparkling with joy. I nodded in agreement.

When we wheeled in, the president gave a speech. Then all of the chariots made a final round around the Cornucopia, and we earned even more cheers then our first round. I was actually giggling! My hand flew up to my mouth, but that just made Zim giggle. And his giggle made me giggle, and soon enough, right after we were out of sight, we were laughing uncontrollably.

After we recovered, Zim cocked an invisible eyebrow while grinning at me. "Well, Dib-thing. You should be a water boy more often. It…looks good on you."

Oh, so here was the playing nice game again. Well, I wasn't going to fall for it.

In fact, I was going to play too.

With a grin, I leaped forward and engulfed Zim in a big hug.


	6. An Odd Girl With an Odd Punishment

**AN: Hey you guys! Ready for some review replies? Okay! ^^**

**Monochrome Masquerade: I'm glad you still love it! ^^ I hope I don't lost your interest anytime soon…that would be bad…. …but I'm glad you like it! **

**: Zim was very pleased to hear that you agreed with him. I'm glad you were honest, and I'm even more glad that you decided to read this story anyway! :-)**

**IxAmxJustice: I'm sooooo happy to hear that! –hugs you- I hope I updated quickly enough for your liking, lol. I hope you're smiling right now, and when you read this chapter you will give me "an awesome review of love." Lol.**

**Neliel Uta (or Nel): I'm glad that you have been patient. And lol, sorry, I was going to do the kiss, but I thought that Dib wouldn't have even thought about that, seeing as he hates Zim right now. Lol.**

**YaoiGirly: Here you go. :3**

**Ga Hai: Sorry that you didn't enjoy my story. :-( And I know that Dib would've been better off that way, but if he didn't volunteer, the story wouldn't get anywhere, would it? Also, I don't want you to not choose to read the Hunger Games because of me. You can hate this story as much as you want, but I don't want that to ruin how you think of the Hunger Games. It truly is an amazing book; even my friend who hates read loved it.**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN INVADER ZIM. OR THE HUNGER GAMES. PERIOD.**

**On to the story! Enjoy!**

I leaned on the railing as the escalator slowly rose upwards. I was tired, so so very tired….but Zim didn't look sleepy at all. Maybe Irkens didn't need sleep? I don't know.

Dwicky was grinning at us from ear to ear as we rose towards our place we would be staying. "You did amazing!" he complimented. "The people loved you!"

Zim rolled his eyes. "How could they not? I AM ZIM!"

I just stayed silent, but a smile sneaked up on me to my surprise.

"I think you both will get tons of sponsors this year!" Dwicky sing-songed, obviously overly happy with our performance. Sponsors were the people who sent us necessities during the Games that could help us. So, without sponsors, you were most likely to be one of the first ones to die.

I was actually a little bit surprised at Dwicky's sudden determination. Only a few hours ago he was grunting at us and betting that we wouldn't survive ten minutes out in the arena. But now he was suddenly 'Oh my goodness you're going to do amazing!' I wondered how bipolar this guy was going to be on us.

Zim didn't seem to notice, however. "I'm SURE we will get millions of sponsors!" he said. I cringed inwardly at the use of plural in his sentence.

The escalator paused to let us off at our stay, and we hopped off. We departed into our own rooms, though Dwicky told us to meet him in the main room in a few minutes. This gave us enough time to change into more comfortable clothing than the swimsuit.

I peeled off the swimsuit and took a quick cold shower to snap me out of my sleepiness. It worked, to my delight, and I changed into my normal clothing. Satisfied with my appearance, I walked out to the main room.

There was Zim and Dwicky, and I began to wonder why I always seemed to be the last one to arrive. I shrugged the thought away—I was here now, and that was what mattered.

I sprawled myself out on the last empty couch and I heard Zim huff with amusement. Well, screw him; I was going to be comfy.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked up, staring into some girl's face. I cocked my head, for some reason the girl looked familiar.

"Do I…know you…?"

The girl didn't say anything, she just widened her eyes in fear.

Dwicky narrowed his eyes. "How could you know her, Dib? She's a slave here. And you aren't supposed to talk to her unless you are giving an order. Are we clear?"

I hesitated, but then nodded. "But why won't she speak?"

"Don't you know, Dib-filth? Their tongues are cut off." Zim explained, lolling out his own tongue mockingly.

At first I thought that Zim was trying to tease me, but Dwicky nodded. "It's true." He said. I felt my mouth gape open with shock, and the girl opened her mouth.

Like Zim and Dwicky said, there was no tongue.

Dwicky turned to glare at the girl, and she closed her eyes, leaving quickly. I watched her leave, wondering what this girl did to deserve such punishment.

My thoughts still lingered when Dwicky turned on the television, but they quickly vanished once I realized we were watching the replay of the opening chariot ceremony. I crossed my legs Indian style, leaned forward, and zipped my lips. Zim and Dwicky were making so much commentary though, that I couldn't help but snap at them to shut up. Surprised, they did.

I had to admit, the other tributes' chariot rides were quite original. But not extraordinary, like ours.

Once we entered, I couldn't help but let out a small gasp at our appearance. It almost looked as if we were made of water. And how Zim could change his tension from really nervous to not scared at all was amazing. I wondered how he did it.

"I like how you locked arms. Very…different. But creative." Dwicky commented once the TV was flicked off.

"It was Noah's idea." I said. Dwicky nodded approvingly.

The girl walked in again, curtseyed, and then quietly took our empty platters and brought them into the kitchen.

"Why don't you two go to bed? We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, ya know." Dwicky said, leaning back in his seat. I locked eyes with him and nodded, getting up. Zim did too.

Halfway to my room, I turned around a corner and walked up some stairs. I lifted the wooden door on the ceiling and walked in, exposing myself on the roof of our stay.

I sat down and swung my legs over the side of the building, listening to the honks of car horns and sirens going on. So much for peaceful. But at least I was alone.

Well, that's what I thought at first.

"Dib?"

That voice. It made me shudder.

Zim walked up and sat next to me, too close for my liking. He wasn't even wearing his disguise.

"Zim? Is it…is it possible for someone to jump off of this roof?" I asked. I hoped Zim didn't get the wrong idea; I wasn't planning on jumping off. I was just curious, because I could think of a whole lot of tributes who would try to commit suicide before the Games to defy the Capitol. But there wasn't ever one suicide. So I wondered…

Well, obviously Zim got the wrong idea. His eyes went wide and he gave me a concerned expression. "O-of course not, D-Dib-human! Why would you even THINK of jumping off?"

I didn't even tell him that I wasn't planning on committing suicide here and now. I just smirked. "Prove it."

I expected Zim to find a rock and throw it off of the roof or something. So it surprised me when he sighed impatiently and threw himself off of the building.

My heart nearly stopped when he didn't come back up.

I began to run around the roof like a maniac, my arms merely noodles flying around everywhere at my sides. Once I contained myself, I hesitantly looked over the edge of the building, looking for Zim's body on the ground somewhere.

My heart skipped a beat when I found him only a foot below me, floating. His antennae was visibly pressed against his head and his eyes were narrowed.

"If you're finished panicking Dib-thing, then perhaps you should consider helping me up?"

I nodded and reached out my hand. He took it, and I heaved him up.

Once he was up, we maintained our sitting positions from before, my heart still racing from almost losing Zim.

But why did I care so much? I hated him!

"You know that we're being taped." Zim muttered, his eyes downcast. I cocked an eyebrow.

"How do you know?"

He pointed at a near video camera. I flinched back, and stood up. I didn't want to stay here if every single move that I made was being videotaped for the world to see.

I wanted to say "Goodnight" or "I'm going to bed now", but I couldn't find my words. Instead, I just left without saying anything.

Once I got to my room, the slave girl is organizing my clothes.

"Oh…you don't have to do that. I got it." I reached out to get some clothes, and out hands bumped. The girl drew her hand back as if she had just gotten burned. Her eyes were wide once again in fear, and she took a few steps back.

I looked at my hand; there seemed nothing wrong with it.

The girl just sighed, and walked away.

I wondered why this girl was being so…odd. Sure, I could see why she would be paranoid. Her own tongue was chopped off for goodness sake! But…I couldn't help but wonder why it was me who she was afraid of.

Without changing into my pajamas, I buried myself under my new bed sheets. I closed my eyes, and waited for sleep.


	7. Training

**AN: Hello! Or, welcome back! **

**I can't believe we're already at Chapter Seven of 'Certain Death!' Even so, I am thinking of changing the title of my story to 'Certain Doom', since that sounds more Invader Zim-like. –GIR sings the doom song-**

**Lol poor GIR. He's only been in this story for one sentence in Chapter Two. ;~; I would write about the little guy some more (he's my second favorite character, after all), but he isn't really casted as anyone. .; **

**ANYWAY, back on topic. Here are the review replies…OF DOOM!**

**Monochrome Masquerade: I'm so very glad you aren't loosing interest anytime soon. :-D LOL, you'll find out more about the slave girl in this chapter.**

**YaoiGirly: Again, you'll find out more about her in this chapter. ;D I'm trying to make my chapters longer, but right now I'm just sticking to them being as long as they have to be.**

**Nel: GIRL GIRL YUS. MUST I REPEAT MYSELF. Lol jk. The actual games will start in about four chapters. I wish it could be sooner, but I still have a chunk of story to cover. Hang on, though…it will come…it will also be the most fun to write, so I'm looking forward to it, too. **

**I'm so glad you are taking an interest in dear old Slave Girl! –Slave Girl waves hi- And you might be confused once you find out who it is. Well, don't be. It will be explained later in the chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

I woke up, panting. My scythe was drooping in front of my face and sweat was dripping off of my face and my arms.

I took a few deep breaths. But I knew it wouldn't calm me down. I mean, how could I calm down, now?

How could I possibly calm down when I had just figured out who that odd girl was?

I had a dream…well, sort of. It was more of a flashback that popped up in my head as I was sleeping. Everything that happened in my dream was real. I shut my eyes, and the images came flashing back to me.

_"Hey, Tak!" I called. I ran up to her. We were still both fairly well sized. Not skinny, but not fat. This was only about a year before the whole climate change and ll that other stuff, so we hadn't started starving just yet. _

_ "Dib!" Tak called, running up to me. She had a wild look in her eyes. I cocked my head in confusion._

_ "What's wrong?" I asked._

_ "It's the…the…" she paused and twitched, her body stiff as stone. It was then that I realized that she was bleeding. And I didn't have to ask who it was._

_ The police were here._

_ I acted quickly, pushing Tak behind some bushes before settling in with her. Tak was still shivering like a Chihuahua, so I held her close, squinting my eyes as I looked to find the police._

_ Instead, all I found was a girl with odd purple hair held back by a headband. It was…Zita…?_

_ "Tak! Come out, Tak!" she was yelling. I wondered for a moment why she was calling for my Tak…I looked over at her and tightened my grip on her, being unusually possessive of the female Irken. _

_ And that's when the girl spotted me. _

_ "Dib!" she cried, relief dripping from her voice. She ran to me, and took my arms, causing me to let go of Tak. She dragged me out of the bush, and I let out a startled yelp._

_ "Oh, Dib…thank goodness you're here! The police are after me…you'll help me? Right?" _

_ It was sort of ironic that right after she said this, the police began to race towards us. I would've run back to my bush and hidden, but they had already seen me. If I ran away they would suspect something. So I did the next best thing._

_ I ripped my arms out of her grip and gripped her wrists. I locked them behind her back, and I put on my best angry face. _

_ "I found this girl, officers. I'm guessing she's the one you're looking for?"_

_ The police nodded at me. "Good job, young man," they complimented me. I held Zita's arms in place as they linked her wrists with handcuffs. Then I shoved her over to the authorities. _

_ Zita gave me a shocked look, which quickly evolved into a betrayed look…then a look of pure hatred. She began to struggle in the cop's grip, and cried out, "But Dib poaches! Poaches! Why else would he be here? Trust me, I know! He sells our family rabbits!"_

_ I froze._

_ "Don't you dare lie to us." _

_ And with that, they took her away. And as I recall, I remember one of the cops saying:_

_ "Should we make her one of the Capitol's slaves?"_

I was snapped back in the real world by the sound of chattering in the direction of the dining room.

"Where's Dib?"

"Ah, Dib-filth is always imperfect at everything. You shouldn't expect him to get here on time."

Damn. I was late for a meal. Again. But before I walked in, I wondered…how could Zita be this slave girl and be in the Games at the same time? But it was just then that I realized…I had thought the girl who was in the Games had their hair color dyed purple. But now that I think of it…it was a dark midnight black. I blinked, satisfied with my resolution, and walked to breakfast.

I sat down next to Zim, much to my own surprise. There were many other seats I could take now, but I chose Zim. Maybe it was just habit that I sit by him now.

"Good morning, Dibbeh!" Zim greeted. I just shot him a glare and started to eat my cinnamon toast.

That's when I noticed Zita watching me intently from the dark corner in the right. She raised her eyebrows in question, and I could tell she was asking: _Do you like it? _I nodded, and she almost smiled.

"Alright, team." Dwicky says, catching my attention. "Today begins our training. Would you like to train together or separately?"

Just as I'm about to suggest we train separately, Zim butts in and demands that we are being coached together. He flashed me a grin. I returned the gesture with a pout. He just laughed silently.

Dwicky writes something down, then continues, "Now, what are your talents that you will be showing to the Game Makers in three days?" Dwicky asked us, tapping his pencil on his bearded chin.

"I can make stuff...like…muffins…" Zim shrugged indifferently and looked at the floor. He knew that wouldn't earn him points.

"I can work with a rifle. Though I'm not very good with it…" I mumbled.

"LIES! The Dib-worm speaks LIES! YOU LIAR!"

I looked at him in shock before he continued.

"Dib is phenomenal with a rifle, Dwicky. He could shoot anything…everything," he stated. "Don't believe him when he says he is not good. Like I said, he is not perfect at anything…except for handling a weapon."

I was totally stunned at this that I couldn't help but open my mouth and yell something back.

"No! Compared to Zim, I'm useless!" I interjected. "Zim can work with anything. He can decode anything, he can set countless traps…not to mention he can go a long time without water." I said. Technically, Irkens couldn't have water at all. If Zim drank it, it would burn his insides.

"Dib." Zim said, his voice suddenly calm. "Even my own computer knows you will survive. I put a piece of your hair in the DNA tester in my lab, and it studied you. It said that it wouldn't be surprised if you won the Games, due to your abilities and body structure. As for me, when I put in one of my DNA samples, all it could do is criticize me and guess how long I would be out there surviving. His highest guess was only forty eight hours."

Dwicky was now completely lost in this conversation, so he just leaned back in his chair, waiting for them to finish their squabble. And all Zita could do was nibble on the stubs of her nails, thinking about how much this reminded her of the old days when they were kids.

"But Zim, you know that if it wasn't for a certain extraterrestrial, I wouldn't even be standing here alive today!" I retorted, reminding him of the day when he threw me the bread.

Zim just sighed and ran a three-fingers hand through his wig. "Dib, you will hve thousands of sponsors. You have no freaking clue about what kind of effect you have on others."

After that, we were kind of quiet.

Taking this as a sign that their argument was over, Dwicky clasped his hands together and grinned. "Okay…word of advice for you both. Don't go off showing off your abilities to the other tributes. Save that for the Game Makers. In fact…you would do best if you didn't show off at all in front of the tributes."

I nodded, but Zim crossed his arms in frustration. It was second nature for him to show off.

"Also…stay together."

With that remark, Zim and I exchanged glances.

An hour later, all of the tributes gathered together. Time for training….whatever.

Zim and I stuck together as Dwicky told us to do, so we took turns choosing which booths to do. I chose knot-tying, much to Zim's dismay, but at least I learned how to create a trap there. To Zim, this was just all recap.

On Zim's turn, we went to the camouflage station. I huffed in amusement as he giggled and slathered himself with substances and all that crap which I didn't bother to do.

This all lasted about three days. We always took turns choosing stations, and Zim always had fun with it, not being serious at all. Even at the battle station he laughed and cursed at the dummies as he stabbed them in their leather chests.

But every single day, when Zim was too busy laughing at having fun, I couldn't help but notice that we were being tailed.

That girl who I mistaked for Zita was following us. Only she had changed her hairstyle, to my relief. It was now flowing down to her shoulders, her left eye covered in a dark curtain of hair. She reminded me of Gaz a little bit…I mean, even to the point that every time I looked at her, she scowled at me. I later found out that her name was Kennedy.

It was now the last day of our training. And it was time for the Game Makers to evaluate us. I sat in my seat, kicking my legs, nervous as heck. Zim was just laughing and joking, but I knew that deep down, he was just as scared as I was.

Much to my dismay, I had to be the one called first. I walked in and scanned for a rifle…ah! There it was!

I picked it up and walked to the Game Makers. I began to shoot random targets, but I wasn't hearing any mumbles or pens writing against paper. Confused, I looked up.

The Game Makers weren't even watching me! What the heck? They were too busy with their stupid freaking dinner! Ugh!

I was so angry…the anger boiled up until it was burning in my throat. The anger controlled me as my arms raised up and I shot a dumpling right out of a guy's hand. The guy wasn't hurt, but he was in definite shock.

As soon as I had done it, I knew that I was going to pay for this one. But all I did was say a mere, "Thank you for your cooperation," and walk out, feeling like an idiot.


	8. Flashbacks and Scores

**AN: Hey guys! Have you noticed the change in title? OwO This title is better.  
>Also, an explanation for Zita becoming the slave girl? –sigh-<strong>

**I personally don't like Zita. And she was going to play my favorite character ever.**

**So I kicked her out of the role, lol.**

**So now she's the slave girl, because I have the magical role-changing-powers! 8D **

**But I can promise you that the roles are set in stone, now. Mmkay? Meaning Zim will always be Peeta, Dib will always be Katniss, Gaz will always be Prim, etc.**

**REVIEW REPLIES HNNNG~ 3**

**YaoiGirly: I'm glad you thought it was interesting. :3 **

**Monochrome Masquerade: Sorry that I changed her role so suddenly. But I'm glad that Kennedy is interesting you as well (she's my persona).**

**Nel: YOU MY DEAR GET A COOKIE FOR GIVING ME AWESOME REVIEWS OF LOVE ON ALL OF MY IZ STORIES. -hands you giant cookie with Zim's face on it- And lol about the enemy thing, that's ironic.**

**Next chapter. Yeah. So, enjoy, and stuff.**

I run back to my room and throw myself on the bed. I've really done it now. What will they do? They might go as far as to kill Dad and Gaz…I sat upright, my scythe falling in front of my face.

And even though I felt an emptiness in my stomach, and tears were beginning to flow, it wasn't for my sake. It was for my family. It was for Tak. I would rather die five million times in a row than to see them die right before my eyes.

And if they do die, then it's all my fault.

I sniffed and threw myself into the shower, cleaning out the dirt and grime from my hair and my skin. It made me feel a little bit better, but I still felt downright terrible about the whole situation.

I got out of the shower, got dressed for dinner, and began to comb the knots out of my hair. There were a lot, much to my dismay, and it took a while to comb it all out. I rubbed my eyes to make sure they weren't teary anymore, and when I looked in the mirror they weren't red and puffy. I blinked a few times, adjusting the collar of my trench coat. Then I began to slowly walk downstairs, thoughts of my family still lingering in my head.

To my surprise, once I was downstairs I realized that I wasn't the last one to be there. In fact, the only person there was Dwicky. He patted the couch, silently telling me to sit.

So I did.

I kicked my legs uncomfortably. Usually Zim was here to strike up a conversation before things got too awkward. But said alien didn't arrive until after a half-hour of waiting silently.

When the Irken walked into the room, he looked terrible. His eyes were half-lidded, and his wig was falling off.

"Good…morning…" Zim yawned, stretching. He plopped himself on the couch, his head resting against my legs. Disgusted, I drew back my legs and hugged them to my chest.

"It's not morning, space-boy. It's late in the evening." I retorted.

"Same…" a yawn. "…thing."

I rolled my eyes.

Zita walked in with our dinners. It was some sort of a stew, I presumed. I ate it, and the amazing taste left me in awe as always.

"So." Dwicky said in-between bites. "What did you do? To show the Game Makers, I mean."

I shifted my feet, uncomfortable.

"Ahhh, Zim just stabbed a few dummies in their stupid cotton chests." Zim said. "I could've done something more amazing if I had made my own weapon." He waved his hand dismissively.

"And what about you, Dib?"

I didn't answer. I just stared at my feet. The tension in the air was so thick, I could have sliced it with a kitchen knife if I wanted to. But after about thirty seconds, Dwicky became annoyed with my silence.

"Come on, Dib. It can't be that terrible," he assured me. But he was wrong…oh so very wrong. But I decided to tell them anyway.

"I shot a few targets with my rifle, but the Game Makers were too preoccupied with dinner and didn't pay the slightest bit of attention towards me. So I…sort of got pissed off…and shot some food out of a Game Maker's hand." I said the last part very fast, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that they heard me, loud and clear.

It took a few moments for Zim to finally digest what I was saying.

"…oh Dib-beast…"

Dwicky just glared daggers at me. "Dib, do you realize what you have done? You have jeopardized all of your chances of winning this year's Games!"

I sunk low into the couch. "…I know…" I murmured, looking downcast.

Dwicky cursed under his breath. "Whatever. Lets just see what scores you two got."

"I'm sure the amazing ZIM got a 100."

"That's not even possible, stupid!"

"Says who, Dib-idiot?"

"Don't call me that!"

Dwicky finally cracked under all of this.

"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP FOR A FEW DAMN MOMENTS!" he snapped. Zim and I both flinched, and nodded to our mentor.

Dwicky muttered something, and flicked on the TV. A bunch of the tributes went by, but only two scores really stood out to me. Little Kennedy, the girl who reminded me of Gaz, got an 8. Impressive! I wondered what she did that could earn her such a high score. The second score that impressed me was Zim's. A good bone-breaking 9. Zim pumped his fists in the air.

But when Zim's face appeared on the screen, I knew who was coming next.

Me.

I sunk even lower in my seat, preparing for the worst. So I was completely taken aback when I got…a 12?

It seemed like the whole Earth stopped spinning. I had gotten the highest score out of all the tributes. Every single one of them! How?

I couldn't move. It was almost as if my muscles stopped working. And I couldn't do anything about it when Dwicky engulfed me in a huge hug.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he cooed, grinning from ear to ear.

And as quickly as they stopped working, my limbs could move.

I pushed Dwicky off and brushed myself off awkwardly. I twiddled my thumbs. "Um…I guess I'll be…heading off to bed then…"

And so I left, still in shock at this sudden turn in events. And when I slept, I slept of my family, not hurt, and in peace.

When I woke up the next morning, Tak was on my mind. The memory of her return to Earth kept on flashing in my mind.

_I was walking down the street, my hands shoved in my pockets. I was just taking a walk. I wasn't chasing bigfeet or tracking down ghosts like I normally would._

_ But I couldn't live without the paranormal for one day it seemed like. Not when I bumped into a familiar looking Irken, disguise on._

_ "Tak?"_

_ She looked up, and her expression lit up once she saw me. "Dib!"_

_ Confused, I cocked my head. "Why Tak? Why are you back?" I asked. I had tried to let go of my crush for her, and right as I finally let that fantasy go, she just had to come back and make it existent again. Sigh._

_ "I want my ship back, Dib," she explained, her eyes suddenly cold._

_ I froze. "Um…I don't have it!" I pathetically lied._

_ Tak didn't buy it. I wasn't expecting her to, anyway. Instead she just pushed me. "Take me to my ship."_

_ I sighed, shoving my hands in my pockets. I twirled around in the direction of my house and began to walk forward. "This way…"_

_ Well, I was actually glad to have an Irken ship all to myself, but now I had to give it away. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted._

_ I led her to my backyard, showing her the ship. "It's kind of…broken." I admitted._

_ She looked back at me, a look of shock painted on her face. "What?"_

_ "It's…broken." I repeated, nervously scratching the back of my neck._

_ Tak just sighed. "I'll have to fix it. But it will take a few weeks. Until then, I'm staying at your base."_

_ I looked at her, shaking my head. "Don't I have a say in this?"_

_ Tak just chuckled. "Nope." _

_ The next few weeks were pretty infuriating, but at the same time they were wonderful. Tak crept into Dib's heart again, and he found himself loving to spend time with her, alien or not. And when the ship was finally fixed, he was heartbroken to see her board it._

_ "Bye…Tak…" I mumbled, looking at the grass, unable to meet her gaze._

_ "No, Dib. Come with me." She demanded, her voice even. "Run away with me, to space." This was the first time of out of many that Tak would ask this question._

_ This just caused me to choke up even more. "I-I can't, Tak. The Earth needs me…"_

_ And that was when Tak jumped out of the ship gracefully, landing right beside me._

_ "Then I'm staying on Earth, Dib." She grabbed my hands. "I'll live with that stinking weenie human again, I'll come to skool, and I won't even try to conquer Earth." I looked at her in surprise, and she grinned._

_ "This is my home now, Dib."_

"Dib! Come here!"

Dwicky's voice snapped me out of my flashback and into reality. I grumbled, and walked downstairs. Dwicky motioned me over, so I walked over.

"Now, Dib, I'm sorry, but I have some news for you," he said, not sounding the least bit sympathetic.

"Go on."

"Yeah, well, Zim doesn't want to train with you anymore. He wants to do his training without you. So yep, sorry."


End file.
